Drink mixing and dispensing assembly



Dec. 8, 1964 P. NIXON DRINK MIXING AND DISPENSING ASSEMBLY 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 27. 1962 INVENTOR ark/r 6 diff Dec. 8, 1964 P.NIXON 3,160,324

DRINK MIXING AND DISPENSING ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 27, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet2 f! /6 J7 ff Z @R\\ h J4 5 15 j] l2 "Hu 1! 1 4 Z 41 if I INVENTOR.

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Dec. 8, 1964 P. NIXON 3,160,324

DRINK MIXING AND DISPENSING ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 27. 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,160,324 DEREK MDQING AND DHSPENSDI'G ASSEWLYPhillip Nixon, 6410 Glendale Drive, Glenviemlll. Filed Aug. 27, 1962,Ser. No. 219,430. 9 Claims. (Cl. 222-144.5)

This invention relates to a liquid mixing and dispensing assembly, andparticularly relates to a plurality of liquid containers adapted todeliver their contents into a receiving chamber.

An object of this invention is a mixing and dispensing assembly in whichliquid may be selectively delivered from a given container into areceiving chamber.

Another object is a liquid mixing and dispensing assembly wherein liquidis transferred through a valve from a plurality of containers into acommon receiving chamber where it is mixed and dispensed.

Another object is an assembly of liquid containers having valves to openthe containers, and means to selectively actuate each valve so thatliquids are transferred from the associated container into a receivingchamber.

Another object is an assembly with a plurality'of liquid containershaving aligned valves actuated by a selector board with pivotable arms.

Another object is a mixing assembly having liquid containers withaligned valves of sufficient dimension so that selective arms in a setof arms straddling the valves may differentially actuate the valve tometer fluids from the containers into a receiving chamber.

Another object is a liquid mixing and dispensing assembly wherein theliquid from a plurality of containers is transferred by separateconduits, in a receiving chamber, to a common point of egress.

Another object is a liquid mixing and dispensing assembly in which aplurality of containers have their contents selectively and directlytransferred into a receiving chamber having separated manifold ductswhich lead to a common egress.

Another object is a liquid mixing assembly for alcoholic beverages suchas cocktails in which different liquors are transferred by a selectormeans in metered amounts from liquid containers to a receiving andmixing chamber from which it is dispensed into a cocktail glass or thelike.

The foregoing objects are attained along with other objects which willbecome apparent by the invention which will be described in detail andwhich is shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the mixing and dispensing assembly,

FIGURE 2 is an elevational end view of the assembly, FlGURE 3 is atopplan view of the assembly, FIGURE 4 is a view along line 4-4 ofFIGURE 3, FIGURE 5 is a side view partly in section of the assembly,

FIGURE 6 is an end view partly in section of ,a modified assembly, and

' FIGURE 7 is a view along line 77 of FIGURE 6.

The same numbers in the different figures will refer to the sameelements, structures, or concepts.

in FIGURE 1 a plurality of paired liquid containers such as 16, 11 and12, 13 are shown aligned and supported by opposed standards or supportsl5, 16. The liquid containers may be securely fixed 'to one another asby welding or the like, which means are not shown. The standards mayalso be securely fixed to the end container they abut by welds, a bolt,a screw or the like. A selector board generally shown as lit straddlesthe liquid containers and is seated at its opposite ends in recesses 19and 20 of the standards. A bolt or screw ll may he used to secure theopposite ends of the selector board to the supports. An ice compartment23 or other cooling means may be placed next to the liquid containers tokeep the contents cool.

Below the aligned containers is a receivingchamber 24 which directlyreceives liquids from the difierentcontainers. A spigot or the like 25may be used to dispense the liquids from the receiving chamber into areceptacle such as a cocktail glass 26.

The containers are shown here as paired units and such containers haveclosures such as 28 and 29 which may be removed to fill the containerswith different or the same liquids. The paired containers have offset orextending portions such as 30, 31 and 32, 33. The offset portions areshown to hold the actuating covers such as at 34 and 37 of preferablyhollow valve pistons such as 35. The valve is shown reciprocated withina cylinder 36. The actuating valve cover is normally urged upwards by acoil spring 38. The valve piston is shown'with a closure 39 at the upperend and the lower end is modified into spaced discs such as 41, 42, 43and 44. The various discs close a valve opening 47 by coacting' closelywith an annular gasket, seal or the like 48. When the valve piston isdepressed, a given disc will intercept the annular seal and provide aclose fitting seal. The amount of liquid which will be transferred fromthe container into the receiving chamber will be determined by thedegree of piston movement and the selected disc which finally seals thecontents ofvthe container.

The receiving chamber may have an electric motor or other motive means50 to drive a mixing element such as a rotating blade 51 so that theliquids transferred from the containers to the receiving chamber may bewell mixed before being dispensed out of the receiving chamberby inwhich are fixed spaced pivot pointsor pivot rods 53 g and 54 towardsopposite portions of the casing, and pivot rod 55 intermediate the endsof the casing. A set of movable arms 58 and an oppositely extending set59 are pivoted at their ends to the intermediate pivot rod. A set ofmovable arms 60 are pivoted at their end to one end pivot rod andanother set of movable arms 61' are pivoted at their ends to theopposite end pivot rod. Each movable .arm has atleast one dependingfinger positioned somewhere along its length and such finger may be ofvarious lengths to differentially depress the valve in its associatedcontainer.

In FIGURE 5 several arms are illustrated to teach the manner ofdepressing the underlying valve. Arm 61' is pivoted at 62 to theintermediate pivot rod andhas' a depending finger 63 to contact actuatorcover 64 and thereby depress valve 65 so that a given amount of liquidis transferred from its associated container and into the receivingchamber. An upright contoured tab or the like 66, which may haveidentifying indici a, may be used to depress the movable arm intoengaging action with the actuator cover. Another arm 71 is shown pivotedat 72 to an end pivot rod, and a depending finger 73 is shown positionedto engage actuator cover 74 of valve 75.

It is seen that the diiferent arms in a given set may havediiferentlengths, that is, the shorter arms actuate the covers closestto their pivot point and the longer arms actuate the covers furtherremoved. It is intended that the individual arms or sets of arms may bedisposed in difierent ways or to form different patterns. Thus, the armscould all be of equal length and the contoured tabs could be speciallyor selectively placed to facilitate actuation of the underlying valves.A particular operation may be more easily performed with arms of varyinglength as generally indicated in the drawings. It is also provided thatsome of the arms such as 78 may have several dependingfingers 79 and 80to respectively actuate covers 81 and S2 to depress pistons 83 and 84.Thus, the movemerit of one arm will transfer the liquids from twocontainersinto the receiving chamber. It is further intended thatdepending fingers on a single arm may differ in size or length so thatthe same movement of the movable arm will discharge a larger amount ofliquid from a container associated with a longer finger and a smalleramount of liquid from a container associated with a smaller finger.Other variations are possible. I

The modified embodiments of FIGURES 6 and 7 show a specialized receivingchamber assembly. The container 86 has a removable closure 87 heldbetween supportsor standards such as the one shown at 88. The valvewithin the container, which is not shown, transfers liquids into amanifold casing 89 and then into a receptacle 9%) which a finger whichmakes contact with the actuator cover when the arm is depressed. Thefinger will depress the actuator cover and thepiston underneath so thevalve opens and the liquid in the container is transferred into thereceiving chamber.

Several fingers on several arms may contact the same actuator cover sothat different amounts of liquid may be metered from the container intothe receiving chamber. Thus, if one part of the liquid in the associatedcontainer'is intended to be transferred to the receiving chamber, an armmay be depressed with a depending finger having a length standardized todeliver one part of the liquid. If three parts of the liquid aredesired, another arm maybe selected having a finger thereon of greaterlength adapted to depress the valve so that the uppermost disc, forexample, on the piston stem moves down to the valve opening. Byselecting the appropriate arm having the appropriate finger size,various and wellknown cocktail mixtures may be transferred to thereceiving chamber. For example, a dry martini may be prepared. bydepressing an arm which delivers three parts of gin from a gin containeror, alternatively, depressing an arm three times which has a finger thatnormally delivers one pant of gin from the container. Another arm may bedepressed to deliver one part of dry Vermouth from a dry Vermouthcontainer. For the more popular cocktails, among which a martini may beincluded, one arm may be designedto have two fingers in separatedconduits or ducts and therefore precludes;

mixing of the liquids until they are discharged at the point of egress.various containers is highly desirable and important, especially wherethe final mixture will be ingested. The delivered liquid will have itsinherent taste qualities unaffected by a different liquid whichpreviously traveled the same duct.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

A liquid mixing and dispensing assembly is now provided whichis quickand convenient in operation. One particular utility is mixing anddispensing alcoholic beverages such as cocktails. A number of pairedcontainers may be present in the unit and each one of the con or flavoror the like. A particularly useful embodi- Such separated delivery ofliquids from the ment for the liquid containers is an opposed pair of Anumber of such paired such as 15 and 16 to provide a length of alignedvalve I assemblies. I

The valve assembly in each container is di'sposedso that when it isdepressed, the bottom of the containers open and the liquid containedtherein is transferred to a receiving chamber 24; The valve assemblyincludes a wide cylinder 36 having a closely lcoacting actuator cover 34and a smaller piston 35. A spring or the like 38'normally urges theactuator cover upwards. The'bottomof the valve has a series of spaceddiscs such as 41-44 which permit different amounts of liquid Within thecontainer to be metered out of the container. The actuator container hasa dimension substantially greater than the piston within the cylinder sothat the various movable arms in a given set of arms may contact thecover and actuate the valve to open position. 7

The various arms are part of the selector board and include differentsets of arms such as 58, 59, 60 and 61 which are pivoted at their endsto pivot points or rods such as 53 and 54 at opposite ends of theselector board, and at 55 which is intermediate the ends of the selectorboard, Each arm has at least one depending so that a longer fingercontacts the actuator cover on the gin container and a shorter fingercontacts the actuator cover on the dry Vermouth container. The arms andfingers may therefore be varied in number, size and arrangement to getcombinations which correspond tov many drink mixtures.

. The receiving chamber may be modified so that the liquids from thedifferent containers are separately transferred to a common receptacle.In FIGURES 6 and 7, the receiving chamber is modified in that a'manifoldcasing portion 89 has separated conduits such as extending from thevalve opening in the liquid container to a point of common egress suchas 96 which leads to a receptacle 90. The liquid contents in thecontainer are transferred into an' adjoining well 93 of the manifoldcasing and thereafter conveyed in the conduit to the point of commonegress. Each liquid container may empty its content into an adjoiningwell and such liquid may be separately conveyed to the point of commonegress. The liquids will be combined or commingled for the first time ina common receptacle where they may be mixed or transferred to anothermixing receptacle. Such a manifold casing in the receiving chamber hasthe important advantages of not permitting mixing of the variousliquids'in the chamber. When used for dispensing liquor beverages, sucha manifold casing will prevent contamination,so to say, of a presentlydispensed liquor mixture by a prior taste-incompatible liquor. f

The foregoing invention can now be practiced by those skilled in theart. Such skilled persons will'know that the invention is notnecessarily restricted to the particular embodiments presented herein.The scope of the invention is to be defined by the terms of thefollowing claims as given meaning by the preceding description.

I claim.

1. A liquid mixing and dispensing assembly which includes, incombination, a plurality of adjoining'liquid containers, a valveassociated with each container, each of said valves having an actuatingsurface, all of said surfaces being in an aligned relationship, saidvalve adapted to open its associated container, a receiving chamberpositioned to directly collect liquids from each of the containers, saidreceiving chamber having a conduit directly conveying liquid from eachvalve opening to a common egress in the receiving chamber, a selectorboard for the adjoining containers, said board straddling the alignedactuating surfaces and a selector means on the board to selectivelyactuate said valve and directly transfer liquid from the associatedcontainer into the receiving chamber.

2. The liquid assembly of claim 1 further characterized by and includinga removable receptacle fixed to the receiving chamber at the commonegress.

3. The liquid assembly of claim 1 further characterized in thatdilferent selector means open the valves to different degrees to meterthe amount of liquids transferred from the containers into the conduitsof the receiving chamber.

4. A liquid mixing and dispensing assembly which includes, incombination, a plurality of adjoining liquid containers, a valveassociated with each container, each of said valves having an actuatingsurface, all of said surfaces being in an aligned relationship, saidvalve adapted to open its associated container, a receiving chamberpositioned to directly collect liquids from each of the containers, aselector board straddling the adjoined actuating surfaces of theadjoining containers, said board having a plurality of arms pivoted attheir ends, and depending members on the arms positioned to move theactuating surface of the valve when the arms are depressed, wherebyactuation of the valves transfers liquids directly from the associatedcontainer into the receiving chamber.

5. The liquid assembly of claim 4 further characterized in that thedepending members are of different lengths so that the actuating surfaceis moved to different degrees to meter the amount of liquid transferredfrom its associated containers into the receiving chambers.

6. The liquid assembly of claim 4 further characterized by and includingidentifying tabs on the arms so that a desired and predetermined meteredamount of liquid may be transferred from its associated container to thereceiving chamber.

7. A liquid mixing and dispensing assembly which includes, incombination, a plurality of adjoining liquid containers, each of saidvalves having an actuating surface, all of said surfaces being in analigned relationship, a valve associated with each container, said valveadapted to open its associated container, a receiving chamber positionedto directly collect liquids from each of the containers, a selectorboard positioned on the adjoining containers having plural arm setspivoted at one of their ends, said arm sets pivoted towards the opposedportions of the selector board and intermediate said opposed portions,at least one depending finger on each arm posi tioned to depress anactuating surface of a container to actuate the valve to open position,each actuating surface dimensioned to receive contact from a pluralityof actuating arms, and said depending fingers having different lengthsto differentially depress a valve and thereby meter the amount ofliquids transferred from the associated containers into the receivingchamber.

8. A liquid mixing and dispensing assembly which includes, incombination, a plurality of liquid containers aligned side to side, avalve associated with each container, each of said valves having anactuating surface, all of said surfaces being in an alignedrelationship, each said valve adapted to differentially open itsassociated container at the bottom thereof, a receiving chamberpositioned below the aligned containers to directly collect liquids fromeach of the containers, said receiving chamher having a plurality ofconduits connecting each valve opening to a common egress, a selectorboard spanning the top of the aligned containers and straddling thealigned actuator surfaces, plural sets of actuating arms pivoted attheir ends on the selector board, at least one depending finger on eacharm positioned over each valve actuating surface which is dimensioned toreceive contact from a plurality of depending fingers, and said fingershaving diiferent lengths to meter different amounts of liquid from theassociated containers when the arms are depressed.

9. A liquid mixing and dispensing assembly as in claim 8 furthercharacterized in that each actuating surface is dimensioned to receivecontact from a plurality of actuating arms and more than one finger ispositioned to selectively depress each actuating surface so thatdifferent, predetermined volumes of liquid may be trans ferred from thecontainer to the receiving chamber.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 693,248 2/02Einstein 222-284 X 734,394 7/03 Arneson 222-284 X 1,180,344 4/16Valentine 222-1293 X 2,072,938 3/37 Berg 222-284 X 3,097,763 7/63Aluotto 222-1445 X LUPO, Primary Examiner,

1. A LIQUID MIXING AND DISPENSING ASSEMBLY WHICH INCLUDES, INCOMBINATION, A PLURALITY OF ADJOINING LIQUID CONTAINERS, A VALVEASSOCIATED WITH EACH COMTAINER, EACH OF SAID VALVES HAVING AN ACTUATINGSURFACE, ALL OF SAID SURFACES BEING IN AN ALIGNED RELATIONSHIP, SAIDVALVE ADAPTED TO OPEN ITS ASSOCIATED CONTAINER, A RECEIVING CHAMBERPOSITIONED TO DIRECTLY COLLECT LIQUIDS FROM EACH OF THE CONTAINERS, SAIDRECEIVING CHAMBERS HAVING A CONDUIT DIRECTLY CONVEYING LIQUID FROM EACHVALVE OPENING TO A COMMON EGRESS IN THE RECEIVING CHAMBER, A SELECTORBOARD FOR THE ADJOINING CONTAINERS, SAID BOARD STRADDLING THE ALIGNEDACTUATING SURFACES AND A SELECTOR MEANS ON THE BOARD TO SELECTIVELYACTUATE SAID VALVE AND DIRECTLY TRANSFER LIQUID FROM THE ASSOCIATEDCONTAINER INTO THE RECEIVING CHAMBER.